[Funcurve Review] "Signal"2016/05/14,
Sure Sign
"Signal" is an intense crime thriller with a storyline that keeps your heart pounding to the very end. It's filled with heavy emotions all the way through, and is the perfect drama for inducing nail-biting adrenaline. What makes Signal even more intense is the time sensitivity of its cases. At first, our detectives solve cold cases with statutes of limitations that are about to expire. But as the drama moves along, the cases have to be solved before more bad things happen. As such, it constantly makes my heart race when time is almost up and our detectives have not found the answer they're searching for,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Assembly"2016/04/09,
Politics is not exactly wholesome family fun, but it is a part of our everyday lives. At the same time, it is a challenging concept in fiction. Either entirely demonized or overly sugarcoated, it is usually a tool for stories not political at heart. "Assembly" might be honest in portraying a lot of what is wrong with our current systems of power, but it is at its core a simple "what if" story. What if a good man did not get tainted or rejected by these systems,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Assembly" Episode 52016/01/09,
It is all about learning curves in episode 5 of "Assembly". As everyone settles into their new roles they discover that there really is no such thing as "settling" into a political office. It's a constant whirlwind of struggle that needs experience and finesse to get through. Experienced players of the political field like In-gyeong, Secretary General Baek, and Sang-pil's adversaries are skilled in the nuanced dealings of the National Assembly and all the politicking that goes with it,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Assembly" Episode 42016/01/01,
Episode 4 of "Assembly" sees Sang-pil's first venture into politics. He gets involved with a financial committee whose policies and functions are beyond his knowledge and education. All around him people hope to use his ignorance to their advantage. It is only In-gyeong whose moral compass fights the political pressure. The others, including handsome Gyoo-hwan, believe Sang-pil to be a selfish pushover who betrayed his union mates and his cause. They believe him to be deserving of any suffering forced upon him.
This belief does not exclude Sang-pil,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Assembly" Episode 32015/12/26,
Episode 3 of "Assembly" is really what pushes the main characters onto the paths that they will follow. They commit themselves to decisions they were previously unsure of. Gyoo-hwan (Taecyeon) deviates from his chosen path, while Sang-pil feels renewed commitment towards his. Politics has always been a skewed subject that has made for plenty of story fodder,...More

SBS Drama Awards, quality or popularity?2015/12/03, Source,
Who will be the last one to laugh at the SBS Drama Awards?
SBS maintains its reputation for being one of the most powerful drama broadcasting stations in 2015. It entertained viewers with various dramas and so did actors and actresses with their various transformations,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Assembly" Episode 22015/09/27,
To say that the events of the second episode were a surprise would be a gross overstatement. While well played, they were so predictable that the episode was mundane. It followed the process behind Sang-pil's ascension to the National Assembly and the catalyst for the change in his attitude towards his new career in politics. At this point in time, Sang-pil is no more than a pawn on the political chessboard,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Assembly" Episode 12015/09/20,
The first episode of director Hwang In-hyeok's and writer Jeong Hyeon-min's Assembly is labored and slow, but is, nonetheless, still interesting. It suffers some for the heavy political setup, but that ponderous plot material is offset by the experienced and grounded cast. We open with crooked politicians and businessmen battling powerless laborers whose plight is a vehicle for power more than it is a vehicle for change,...More

[Spoiler] 'Assembly' Comrades hold hands again to win for sure2015/08/13, Source,
On the 10th episode of KBS 2TV's Wednesday & Thursday drama, "Assembly", Choi In-gyeong (Song Yoon-ah) found out that Jin Sang-pil (Jeong Jae-yeong) had fired her in favor of her. She then went to see him with her resume in her hands and told him she wanted to be rehired.
Jin Sang-pil noticed Choi In-gyeong wrote in hre resume that she was a candidate by public nomination for mayor of Gyeongje city. He said, "You should go when I let you go and grab the opportunity. Otherwise there's no chance for you",...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "C'est Si Bon"2015/02/21,
The time is the sixties. The place- a hip sixties bar by the name of "C'est Si Bon". Hyeong-joo (played by Kang Ha-neul) and Chang-sik (played by Jo Bok-rae) are two talented young musicians who seem to genuinely despise each other. Enter Geun-tae (played by Jeong Woo), a somewhat less talented man who the other characters hope will even Hyeong-joo and Chang-sik out. It doesn't work. Ultimately these three are only able to form a functional folk band because of Ja-yeong (played by Han Hyo-joo). She doesn't join the band or anything. It's just, you know, Han Hyo-joo. She's pretty hot,...More

"Love Never Fails", too extreme? This is reality2014/10/07, Source,
Movie "Love Never Fails" shows what the movie is about from the title itself. However, it doesn't only show that love wins, but it shows the agonizing process of a family that gets to that conclusion.
"Love Never Fails" is about Soo-ah (Oh Yu-jin-I), a student who is under the pressure of her family and having to go to a prestigious school. This movie was shown to the public for the first time at the Panorama section of the Busan International Film Festival from 3rd to the 5th of October,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 16 Final2014/05/01,
In the end, it's all about the explosions. We don't actually get to see the explosions, though. Mostly it's just people talking about the explosions, or the threat of explosions, or the general mechanics of explosions, but the point is, this episode is about all the stuff related to explosions that isn't particularly interesting. I suppose that's not terribly surprising- locked into the villainous storyline and motivation of "Three Days", of course we'd get another case of talk rather than action. This is a problem when the talk is eyerollingly dumb.
I praised the first episode of this drama for having an obviously cynical take toward surveillance culture and the echelons of power in modern society,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 152014/04/30,
I haven't exactly had high expectations regarding the villains' plans lately, but I was expecting the assassination attempt to be a tad more elaborate than just a bunch of guys firing assault from moving vehicles into the general direction of the place where everybody thinks the President is. That's just sloppy- so much so that it almost makes me yearn for the evil plans that involve murder with a bright flashing trail of evidence.
But then, I don't have to yearn for it when such plots appear in this episode too. The bad guys are still getting access to wherever they need to go by donning police uniforms,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 142014/04/24,
The assassination attempt ends pretty much the way every other assassination attempt has ended in this drama to date. There's a fakeout, an explanation of elaborate motives and scheming, and then we're right back to the same old situation. The secret service is stuck in a passive holding pattern while Do-jin's corporation is able to act with infinite recklessness to achieve whatever they want to do.
Remarkably this still manages to happen even though Do-jin is arrested. Yes, Do-jin comes up with yet another assassination plan, that is only mildly inhibited by the guy's being in jail,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 132014/04/23,
Well, scratch that about Do-jin being a nutcase that's about to ruin everything for everybody. As far as I can tell the legal structure of the universe in "Three Days" is of complete benefit to the man. Do-jin is totally untouchable regardless of how much obscenely incriminating evidence the good guys are able to find. Even an on-the-spot assassination attempt isn't enough to at least bring the guy in for questioning.
That's not even the worst of it, actually. Apparently even a bunch of goons captured in the process of committing a crime red-handed isn't enough to put any sort of suspicion on the Jaeshin corporation,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 122014/04/10,
So apparently Do-jin is just straight up a completely crazy person. I had thought this drama was being a bit over the top with the whole evil corporate action stuff but other corporate types involved in the evil scheme actually manage to call Do-jin out for going too far. On some level the problems with Do-jin's plans really shouldn't be that hard to explain. If the police have found the bombs, it stands to reason they have evidence which will probably wreck the whole false flag operation part of the death and destruction. Without that, there's not really much point to the bombs in the first place from a corporate perspective.
It's actually a fairly interesting metaphor. Old school political types just shoot the breeze with crazy ideas that might equal financial and electoral success,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 112014/04/09,
Nobody can trust anyone in this drama. Normally that would be good for a narrative about about political machinations and dark backroom deals, but unfortunately the narrative behind "Three Days" is just black and white enough that these plot points come off as belaboured. Do we really have to go through Tae-kyeong being paranoid about who to trust again. That gimmick is getting really old, mainly because he's always getting talked out of it so easily.
In a lot of ways the bad guys were actually doing Tae-kyeong a favor when they tried to bump off Cha-yeong,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 102014/04/03,
The conclusion at corporate headquarters is about everything that can be reasonably expected. It says quite a bit about the way characters in this drama plan events that defeat keeps popping up in moments of practically absolute strength. "Three Days" takes place in a world where bravado and confidence are not great advantages. Anytime somebody takes a moment to be smug the weaker party is able to take advantage of that foolishness to shift the dynamics again.
The drama is able to do a decent job the closer it hews to standard action tropes,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 92014/04/02,
I suppose there's one concession I have to make to this drama- if security professionals in this universe were actually any good at preventing rogue agents from attacking secure installations and doing whatever they wanted, really, where would the tension come from? Yes, the particular plot device used to that end in this episode is a bit groanworthy. And it's especially annoying that most of the background is too dark for us to see what's happening. But it moves the plot forward.
Unfortunately for the most part the storyline is just standing still,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 82014/03/27,
We finally get some nice, clear character ambivalence from Tae-kyeong. He's a man that's honest about his limitations. Not in a refreshing way. It's a bit unnerving just how little confidence Tae-kyeong inspires in any scene that doesn't directly involve crazy action stuff. He has to be one of the more wishy-washy action heroes I can recall ever seeing on-screen. It's certainly different from the genre standard- but I'm not sure whether it actually works.
"Three Days" itself seems to admit this, as the episode abruptly changes gears from Tae-kyeong's inner conflict to more explanation about the specifics of the conspiracy,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 72014/03/26,
Once again we find Tae-kyeong not being the most cooperative lead character. This kind of action thriller typically requires a main character who's willing to break the rules, but when we see Tae-kyeong fighting people on his own side just as much as the actual villains, it's difficult to ignore the thematic significance. Even if it's in flashback the guy really seems determined to win every possible encounter, regardless of whether or not it will actually help his long term goals.
Let's take, for example, the confrontation at the suite,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 62014/03/20,
Tae-kyeong really needs to take some responsibility in terms of his image problem. Even though he's been cleared of wrongdoing and is ostensibly working with the good guys again, the man continues to respond to every minor crisis by punching everyone nearby. I mean, geez, Cha-yeong is clearly trying to give him the benefit of the doubt here but there's only so much she can do when the guy's so determined to alienate himself from everyone for no apparent reason.
The storyline moves forward as the bad guys move to the next step of their plan- kill everyone who might know something about the big mysterious secret,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 52014/03/19,
Most of this episode is dedicated to flashback, and to fairly good effect. We find out pretty clearly and unambiguously what the conspiracy is and why they're trying to kill the president. The revelations are fairly disappointing ones actually, but it fits well with the overall tone of the episode. Tae-kyeong is horribly disillusioned by the discoveries, yet he insists on sticking close to the action anyway because he's a secret service agent and darn it he's gotta protect the president.
The sense of urgency feels awfully out of place for the fifth episode,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 42014/03/13,
Most of the opening portion is just a huge orgy of action. Tae-kyeong is on a train and, as expected, this about the worst possible place to try and hide from a search by local authorities. So the situation very quickly degenerates into an outrageous fistfight. If the secret service agents had any doubts as to whether Tae-kyeong had seriously gone wrong, those are pretty much dispelled by the man's actions here. Word of advice- if your plan is to beat up everyone in the nearby vicinity until or unless they force you to stop, prefacing this rampage with "I'm sorry" really isn't good enough,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 32014/03/12,
...And it turns out that Tae-kyeong is, beyond all reasonable doubt, a wizard. I really can't come up with any other explanation for his accomplishments this episode. At one point he actually manages to knock someone out with the Vulcan nerve pinch. At least I'm assuming that's what he did- we don't see it very clearly but I can't imagine how else he could have forced this person into unconsciousness. For pity's sake, "Three Days", at least hand him some chloroform or something.
There's also the extended car chase, which has an ending I still can't figure out. So the bad guy is driving this giant semi, and all he has to do to kill our heroes is score a direct hit and knock them over,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 22014/03/06,
It would seem that I was mistaken on the action front. Initially the attack is a big deal, but for the most part this episode is just an anatomy of the attack, which was so sudden there's not even much to see. The focus here is mainly on Tae-kyoung, who is being treated suspiciously for...some reason I'm not sure what exactly. Maybe I've seen too many of these cat-and-mouse mysteries, but everything about this episode was so painfully predictable I was just impatiently tapping my fingers thinking "get on with it already!"
So, Tae-kyoung is wrongly accused, and now must work on his own to protect the president. That's motivation,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Review] "Three Days" Episode 12014/03/05,
The immediate striking aspect of "Three Days" is how scary it is. Just to be clear, the first episode doesn't actually give a very good idea of who the bad guys are and what they're trying to do. Rather, the fear factor here comes from the Korean secret service of all people. Their elaborate surveillance scheme, the sniper on the rooftop, the excessive security detail, all demonstrate a frightening degree of control. Director Sin Kyeong-soo takes a bunch of people that are supposed to be at least kind of heroic and makes them look like the agents of a dystopia,...More

[HanCinema's Drama Preview] "Three Days"2014/03/01,
Dramas taking a turn for the bleak is certainly not a shift a lot of fans appreciate, but since the domestic audiences seem to like their darker stories, this is something we will have to get used to for this spring season. The good thing about it though, is that rather than going for makjang, we are seeing a rise in suspense thrillers with highly cinematic qualities. And this is a good thing for an industry mainly about cheap and quick entertainment. "Three Days" is one of these new series going for a more serious approach,...More

[HanCinema's Column] Unconventional Korean Dramas2014/02/01,
Being a movie fan making a jump to dramas can be a daunting experience. The two are very different in many ways. From budget to tropes, from acting to directing, they are worlds apart. While there are genres even Korean films do not often touch, Korean drama is much more limited in its diversity. Sageuk, melodrama, dailies, romantic comedies, the types and formats of series are limited,...More

[HanCinema's Film Review] "Dance of Time"2013/11/23,
The documentary opens with a woman, beautifully silhouetted by the beach at sunset, in an entrancing rhythmic dance. While watching this the viewer is also exposed to similarly well-matched Cuban dance music. We don't actually learn much from this opening shot, nor from the various interviews, discussions, and further performances by the singers and dancers who practice this artform. Rather, we get a strong sense of the cultural identity that defines these individuals,...More

[HanCinema's Film News] New Korean Films Inbound...2013/10/05, K-Films Coming Soon:
★★★★ "The Hero": A single dad who plays a super hero on T.V. decides to really become "Thunder Man" for his son after his show gets cancelled. (10/08)
★★★★★ "Hwayi : A Monster Boy": A young boy is raised by five talented fathers into a life of violent crime, but begins to question his past when he is forced to pull the trigger on their latest job. (10/09)
★★★ "Red Vacance Black Wedding 2": An unmarried woman is harassed by a persistent suitor, a dangerous man who doesn't take no for answer. (10/10),...More

[2010 10Asia's Awards] "Thank You" List2010/12/31, Source, There are things that cannot be expressed through annual awards ceremonies. The big trophies are not enough to describe the gratitude we feel for the dramas that contributed to brightening our days during the past year. This is why 10Asia is presenting the "Thank You" list in which we selected 10 memorable dramas. This is a shout-out to all those dramas that at time melted our hearts with highly appealing looks, made our hands and feet cringe yet leave our eyes and mouths smiling with famous lines, delighted us at the mere sight of some characters and left the single viewers green with jealously with the romance scenes. Let us thank all these dramas that took our emotions on a most exciting roller coaster ride. So thank you! Eye-Cleanser of the YearKBS2 TV "Sungkyunkwan Scandal": Jalgeum Quartet
There is a fairy tale in Korea in which a filial daughter volunteers to sacrifice herself to a sea god in order to cure her father of his blindness,...More

[ChanMi's movie news] New movie, "My Friend, My Wife"2008/11/05, Source, A new revolutionary movie has been introduced to the public!
Recently, many movies who have hot issues and scandalous scenes are being rated highly. Here, a husband who is between his best friend and wife who have sexual relationship with each other is being portrayed. In this film, a human's mysterious psychology and ambitions are the main theme.,...More

'Magicians' Plays Tricks on Audience2006/03/30, Source, By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
You can say that a movie is a genre that people have created to overcome the limitations that a theatrical play has _ mainly of time and space.

Jang Hyeon-seong | Community

- Stay on topic and do not spam.
- Emoticons are fun, but actual thoughts are appreciated.
- Refrain from abusive language.
- Post only in English, as this is an English language community.
- Do not share pages or media unrelated to the topic you are commenting on.
- Do not request or mention illegal download/streaming services.
- No graphic content allowed.
- Respect the right of other users to share their opinion. Arguments are welcome, fights are not.

Comments which break the rules will be erased. Repeated rule breaking will result in blacklisting.

Jang Hyeon-seong (장현성)

Subscribe to HanCinema Pure to remove ads from the website (not for episode and movie videos) for US$2.99 per month (you can cancel anytime).
The first step is to be a member, please click here : Sign up, then a subscribe button will show up.